Kaleidoscope
by Catherine E. Grant
Summary: MWPP: The Final Year. Concerns the marauders and Minerva McGonagall.


KALEIDOSCOPE: Ch 1. Hogwarts  
Author: Catherine E. Grant

Disclaimer: They belong to J.K Rowling if they sound familiar, otherwise they're mine and yes I KNOW that's a bit repetitive since it's on a lot of my fics but the deal stands.

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"It's our seventh year, I don't believe it" said Lily happily, munching down on a piece of sticky toffee. She was a slight girl, with a bright and bubbly approach to life. Only weeks before she had received a letter from Hogwarts Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, announcing she had been elected Head Girl. All who knew her applauded his choice.

"Our last year of marauding" complained her companion, one Sirius Black. His shock of untidy hair had grown somewhat over the summer holidays, and he had trouble keeping it out of his eyes.

They stood on Platform 9¾, and before them was the Hogwarts Express. Shiny and glistening, it promised another year of learning, fun and wizardry for the gathering of students. 

Trying to squash an extra set of dress robes in his suitcase was their friend Peter Pettigrew. Sheepishly he looked up at their approach, and let go of the case. James Potter jumped down from where he'd been standing on the much-maligned case and enfolded Lily in a bear hug. "James!" she protested, but only weakly. He laughed, swinging her around. "I've missed you Lil," he said unashamedly. 

She grinned and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Pulling out her wand she waved it at Pettigrew's suitcase and announced "_Dividius!"_ in a sharp voice. The case bulged and stretched, allowing the extra bundles to pack in easily. Giving James a triumphant look, Lily stuck out her tongue. He merely shook his head and looked around.

"Where's Moony?" he asked mildly. 

"On the train," gloated Sirius. James raised an eyebrow and his friend shrugged. "He lost the toss and got to put all our cases on. Now he won't get off." He jerked his head at the front carriage, and sure enough, the familiar grinning face of Remus Lupin appeared at the window. "Before you say _anything_, Prongs, you and Wormtail get to bring your own bags up!"  
"Did I mention making _you_ carry them?" asked James innocently. Too innocently. Sirius shot Lily a worried look and neither was very surprised when James presented them with one case each and jumped aboard the train.

The five settled themselves in the carriage with a game of exploding snap and a bag of every flavour beans.

"Woo-hoo!" yelled Lily, as she won, yet again. "I am just too good, have I told anyone?"  
"You might have mentioned it," James replied dryly.

"Once-"

"Or twice-"

"Or the entire bloody trip!" Peter, Remus and Sirius finished, triumphantly. Lily shot them all an icy glare. "You're just not good losers," she said complacently, gathering the deck together. Slyly, James extracted an extra card from his girlfriend's sleeve. Catching on, Sirius took a second wildcard out of Lily's other sleeve and palmed it. The pair shared a conspiratorial wink.

They played for sometime more but Lily lost her enthusiasm once she started to lose. Remus put the cards away and they sat in silence. Each of them thought over their own special memories of Hogwarts and what it had come to mean. For James and Lily, it was a place to excel, a place where they had met and begun to carve a life for themselves. For muggle-born Lily it was an introduction to all the things she'd once thought impossible. To Remus, Hogwarts was the one place where his affliction didn't matter, at least to the people who knew about it. He had friends here who accepted him for who and not what he was, a fact that continued to amaze him every full moon. To Sirius, Hogwarts meant friends, breaking rules, playing jokes and endless detentions; to Peter a rather large collection of people who all seemed smarter, more popular and braver than he was.

"Not long now." Lily broke the long silence. Sirius nodded. "Yeah, only one year left."   
She shook her head in exasperation. Blonde locks went everywhere. "No, stupid! Till we reach Hogwarts. Look, it's just around that corner there."  
And they looked, as they had every year, for that first glimpse of the old castle they had called home for the past six years. Majestic, powerful, it stood on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, radiating an air of confidence and magic that seemed to reflect the soul of its Head Master, Albus Dumbledore. Four towers broke the horizon, unidentifiable by their outer appearance alone, yet long experience told the students which was which. Five hungry pairs of eyes sought their own Gryffindor, staring expectantly at the tower that represented their house. Then the train moved on and the glimpse was gone, the moment broken. As one they moved to collect their bags, knowing that along the length of the train others would be doing the same thing, be they Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin or fellow Gryffindors. 

"Hogwarts." The whisper raced along the line. 

"Hogwarts." Home, for the past six years, now home for one final time. 

It seemed no time at all before they heard Hagrid's familiar bellow "Firs years! Firs years this way!" and were bundled themselves through the great hall. For once they managed not to miss the Sorting, and cheered just as loud as anyone when new Gryffindors were announced. (As Sirius cheerfully commented, new Gryffindors weren't made, they had to be born, so the hat could only tell them where they were always meant to be.)  


The clatter of the hall dimmed as students and teachers took their places. The marauders glanced around them as they sat, marking out known faces ("Ugh! There's that Severus creature, slimy as usual!) both liked and foul. James frowned. "Seen Ref around anywhere?" Remus shuddered. "Thankfully, no." As Head of Gryffindor House and Master of Transfiguration, Alexander Ref gave out more detentions than the rest of the staff combined. Even to his own house, it was muttered darkly. The only favouritism he showed was hating everyone equally. 

Filch seemed sweet in comparison.

Dumbledore rose and gestured for silence. "Thank you all," he began, beaming, "and welcome to another year at Hogwarts. First years, I hope you come to love this school as much as I do. As always, the Forbidden Forest is exactly that. Now, I have the pleasure of introducing our new Transfiguration teacher, Professor Minerva McGonagall. Stand up please, Professor."  
A slight dark haired woman on the Headmaster's right got to her feet and nodded at the students. "Professor McGonagall will be replacing Professor Ref in all duties, including as Head of Gryffindor House and deputy Head Mistress." A large number of students cheered at that. Anyone replacing Ref had to be good for the virtue that they were replacing him! Dumbledore coughed. "I think you would all like to know that Professor Ref has agreed to take up the position of Headmaster at Durmstrang. He will be sorely missed-"

"Not bloody likely" muttered Lily

"-but I know you will make Professor McGonagall feel welcome in his stead. Everyone, enjoy this year at Hogwarts. Live everyday as though it were your last – it just might well be. Just ask your friendly resident House ghost for further information, I'm sure they'd be happy to oblige."  
Sirius nudged James in the ribs and pointed to where the Bloody Baron floated menacingly. He looked like he'd be more than happy to create some new ghosts.

"On that note, Dobblestic! Quer! Laken! Illsworth!"

Dumbledore sat down and the tables were filled with food.


End file.
